BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE

CREATED BY OLEH KRYVULYAK

DAMAGE OF WWI

- W W 1 is famous for the extensive damage and terrible failures

BEST BATTLE IN THE WAR

• The best organized and most strategic battle in World War 1 was fought in 1917 by

Canadian and British divisions. It was called the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

JOINING ALL OF THE CANADIAN DIVISIONS

• For the first time in World War 1 all four Canadian divisions fought as one.

• All four divisions were from nine provinces of Canada from Vancouver to to Halifax.

GENERALS IN THE BATTLE

• In the battle of Vimy Ridge there were two Generals of Canadian and British troops.- Before the war, teacher Arthur Currie, was

Major General and lead the Canadian divisions.- British divisions were lead by General Julian

Byng.

FRENCH AND BRITISH ATTACKS WERE

UNSUCCESSFUL

• British and French troops had previously tried to take Vimy.

• Every time they attacked they would lose more men.

GOALS OF VIMY RIDGE

• The first goal of the battle was breakthrough in the German’s lines.• At Vimy Germans fortified the Hindenburg Line made a junction with

many other trenches along the front.• The other goal was the importance of German factories that were

producing military supplies for the war.• It was the Canadian task to take Vimy and two other important hills, where the Germans had strong defenses.

WHY THE HILL WAS HARD TO ATTACK?

• Vimy Ridge was very important to the Germans so they tried to make sure that it would be difficult to attack.

• Vimy was a natural hill and a barren slope that provided little cover for attackers so it gave good advantage for fortified machine guns and for artillery.

• The Germans had three 3 layers of trenches, barbed wire, tunnels into a hill and light railroad for military supplies.

- On April 9th the big battle had began.

PRACTICES : MOCK-UP OF THE HILL

- Canadian troops made a complete copy of the hill.

- on that hill they did training that let them know every inch of Vimy Ridge

- This was not the only preparation for the battle.

PRACTICES: LEARNING HOW TO USE GERMAN

WEAPONS

• Rather then dragging and reloading their own cannons, machine guns Canadians learned how to use German , so they could shoot Germans from their own weapons

- On the picture is showing World War 1 German artillery piece.

PRACTICES: PINPOINTING OF THE ENEMY

• Canadian colonel, and former science professor from McGill University Andrew McNaughton, figured out how to pinpoint enemy guns by their flash and

sound.

- That training helped them to destroy important German positions before the advance began.

PRACTICES: FIRING AHEAD OF CANADIAN LINES

• British troops were trained to shoot with their artillery just ahead of attacking Canadians that were moving forward.

• Shooting ahead in previous battles was unsuccessful because in battle if you would run a little bit faster or slower, there is a pretty big chance that you would get killed by your own artillery.

• The Canadians learned the Vimy glide, 100 yards in 3 min. .

THE BATTLE HAD BEGUN

• On Easter Monday 1917 some people

celebrated Easter with baskets full of food, some people celebrated with guns full of ammunition.

WEATHER JUST FOR NORTH

• On the day of the battle the weather was just right for the northern Canadians so they went forward through strong wind, snow, and sleet.

• At 5:30 troops started to cross No Man’s Land.

• Photo: No Man’s Land.

THE HILL IS NO LONGER GERMAN

• April 2nd bombardment of Vimy Ridge took began.

• On April 9th 20,000 soldiers started moving onto Vimy Ridge.

- With perfection and optimism the Canadians took Vimy at the end of day.

VIMY SUCCESS

• The Canadians had demonstrated that they were one of the most outstanding armies on the Western Front and masters of offensive warfare.

- Previous attacks on Vimy never had the success of the Canadians.

CANADA’S GREATEST VICTORY

• It was Canada’s greatest victory and also was called the, “most perfectly organized and successful battle of the whole war”.

• It is also referred to as Canada’s “nation-making moment” because it involved Canadians from every region of Canada.

LOSES

• Of the 20,000 that went over the top that day at Vimy 3,598 Canadian soldiers did not come home to their families and 7,104 soldiers were casualties.

• Germans suffered 20,000 killed or wounded.

BATTLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

• The battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the factors that proved that Canada was an independent nation.

• It proved also that Canadians can make their own decisions and provide international leadership.

THE END